Closing arguments wrap up in NM murder trial

By SUSAN MONTOYA BRYAN, Associated Press
| 6:51 p.m.Oct. 2, 2013

FILE - In this Aug. 19, 2010, file photo, provided by the Mohave County Sheriff's Office shows John Charles McCluskey, 45, after he was captured at a campsite in the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest in Ariz. Prosecutors say escaped Arizona prisoner John McCluskey killed a retired Oklahoma couple in cold blood while on the run and should be convicted of capital murder. (AP Photo/Mohave County Sheriff's Office, File)
— AP

FILE - In this Aug. 19, 2010, file photo, provided by the Mohave County Sheriff's Office shows John Charles McCluskey, 45, after he was captured at a campsite in the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest in Ariz. Prosecutors say escaped Arizona prisoner John McCluskey killed a retired Oklahoma couple in cold blood while on the run and should be convicted of capital murder. (AP Photo/Mohave County Sheriff's Office, File)
/ AP

FILE - This undated file photo released by the New Mexico Department of Public Safety shows shooting victims, Linda and Gary Haas of Tecumseh, Okla. Prosecutors say escaped Arizona prisoner John McCluskey killed the retired Oklahoma couple in cold blood while on the run and should be convicted of capital murder. (AP Photo/New Mexico Department of Public Safety, File)— AP

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FILE - This undated file photo released by the New Mexico Department of Public Safety shows shooting victims, Linda and Gary Haas of Tecumseh, Okla. Prosecutors say escaped Arizona prisoner John McCluskey killed the retired Oklahoma couple in cold blood while on the run and should be convicted of capital murder. (AP Photo/New Mexico Department of Public Safety, File)
/ AP

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. 
Defense attorneys say the capital murder case against an escaped Arizona convict accused in the carjacking and slayings of a retired Oklahoma couple leaves a "mountain of doubt."

But prosecutors say witness descriptions of defendant John McCluskey being covered in blood moments after the shooting deaths of Gary and Linda Haas leave no question about the identity of the triggerman.

Prosecutor Greg Fouratt called the crime "stunningly disgusting." He asked jurors to consider the fear the Haases felt in 2010 when they were carjacked at gunpoint. Their remains were found incinerated along with their burned-out travel trailer.

Fouratt pleaded with jurors to find McCluskey guilty on all counts as closing arguments wrapped up late Wednesday.

Jurors are scheduled to begin deliberations Thursday.

If convicted, McCluskey faces a possible death sentence.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.

The capital murder case against an escaped Arizona convict accused in the carjacking and slayings of a retired Oklahoma couple leaves "a mountain of doubt," the defense argued in closing arguments Wednesday.

"There's only one truth here, and that's we don't know beyond a reasonable doubt what happened in that time period," attorney Michael Burt told a federal jury as he wrapped up a monthlong trial during which he called no witnesses.

McCluskey is accused of carjacking, murder and other charges in the August 2010 deaths of Gary and Linda Haas of Tecumseh, Okla., following an escape from an Arizona prison. The couple's charred remains were found among the wreckage of their burned-out travel trailer on a remote ranch in eastern New Mexico.

Burt called into question the statements of two key witnesses and accomplices of John McCluskey. His cousin and girlfriend, Casslyn Welch, and his former prison bunkmate, Tracy Province, testified under plea agreements with prosecutors. Both said McCluskey was the triggerman.

"Who else would they point the finger at," Burt said. "John McCluskey is the perfect person to point the finger at."

Burt argued their testimony was inconsistent with earlier statements they made to investigators about exactly where the couple was shot and with whose gun.

He also said both were drug users motivated to testify in return for lesser sentences. Welch and Province pleaded guilty last year and face life sentences. If convicted, McCluskey faces a possible death sentence.

Prosecutor Linda Mott, however, argued Tuesday that McCluskey killed the couple "in cold blood. He did it to take their stuff. He did it not to leave witnesses and he did it to get away."

Mott told jurors that the only possible verdict after a monthlong trial is guilty on all counts. Among the evidence, she said, are fingerprints and DNA on the murder weapon and inside the Haases' stolen pickup truck.

Mott acknowledged that the defense has portrayed Welch and Province as immoral, untrustworthy drug users. But she said their stories about McCluskey shooting the couple have never wavered, and it was not long ago, she said, that McCluskey considered Province a friend and Welch a lover.

"He trusted them with his life and his freedom. The government didn't choose them as witnesses. He did," she said, telling the jurors they will have to be the judges of credibility and the facts.

The Haases were killed three days after Welch said she helped McCluskey, Province and another inmate escape from a privately run, medium security prison near Kingman, Ariz. One of the inmates was caught a day later in Colorado. The search for Welch, McCluskey and Province sparked a nationwide manhunt.

According to testimony, the trio targeted the Haases for their truck and trailer after having fled through three states in a cramped car without air conditioning. Welch testified the plan was never to kill anyone, just to "get off the grid" and go into hiding.

Prosecutors contend that McCluskey intended to harm the Haases from the moment he and his alleged accomplices spotted the retired couple at a rest stop near the New Mexico-Texas state line.

Mott detailed the events of Aug. 2, 2010, the day the Haases were forced at gunpoint to drive west along Interstate 40. They were ordered off the highway and onto a two-lane road, where McCluskey is accused of taking them into the camper and shooting them despite assurances that they would not be harmed.